Author: William Kerr

…and cultural gravity seems to have a lot in common.

Maybe they’re the same thing with a different name or a slight variation on a theme. Whatever the case, the overall idea has relevance to much of what we do.

Both come down to the idea that a single solution, identity, or design/product will lose it’s relevance and impact in the not to distant future and level off or decay as time goes on.

A more static/singular solution, identity, or design/product may have been viable in the mid to late 20th Century where things moved more slowly but the speed of modern times seems to demand a constant upgrading, redesign or, framed in early gaming parlance, levelling up.

So, as we climb the upward slope of the curve, keeping in mind that at some point what we are doing or who we are professionally will level off or decay, we can begin a redesign somewhere up the curve and not when the levelling off or decay happens.

The challenge is that as we do not always know when the levelling off/decay will take place, we are put in a constant state of learning and redesign which demands a great amount of work and courage.

What got us “here” will most likely not get us “there,” where we need or want to go.

Written while listening to a World Music Compilation

…a school of thought from ancient Greece practiced by a group of philosophers who called themselves the Cynics. As outlined in Wikipedia, “For the Cynics, the purpose of life is to live in virtue, in agreement with nature. As reasoning creatures, people can gain happiness by rigorous training and by living in a way which is natural to themselves…”

What!

Not sure how we got from there to Wikipedia’s present-day meaning of, “…a disposition of disbelief in the sincerity or goodness of human motives and actions.”

However we got here though it seems that today’s cynicism is a somewhat lazy way to live. A mixture of criticism and apathy. It’s easy to rag on things and doubt sincerities, which may help simplify one’s perspective but doesn’t allow for or demand engaging with challenges or people in meaningful or impactful ways.

I’m not sure where I got the following, “It is not the survival of the fittest but the survival of the friendliest and those who can best work together,” but it shows, in a world where not everything is as wonderful as we would like, a possibly less lazy and more productive way to look at things and approach issues we may face at work or in our personal lives.

I guess, like many things, it comes down to a choice.

But we have to take a moment in order to choose.

Written while listening to The Hu

…and as producers we do not just create a company, product, service, or show but, in addition:

• Someone else’s livelihood.
  • Their mortgage payment.
  • Their monthly rent.
  • Their car payment and insurance premium.
  • Their…
• Someone else’s College or University education for their children.
  • And therefore their future.
  • Their livelihood.
  • Their…
• Someone else’s ongoing education.
• Someone else’s stature, standing a bit taller, by involving them.
• Someone else’s self-esteem by acknowledging their contribution.
• Someone else’s trust so they can get their work done a little easier.
• Someone else’s…

Producing is a more significant undertaking than one would initially think and seems to involve a lot more someone else’s beyond ourselves and what we’re doing.

We’re all producers of some sort no matter what we do or where we’re located within a company, project, or initiative.

And, if we’re all producers, leaving out all the regular stuff we do what, in our profession, business, or work are we additionally producing?

Written while listening to some Jean Michel Jarre